Spiky power generation on a completely sunny day

[vijay_challa]

Hi,

Has anybody else seen this? This was recorded on a fully sunny day in Frisco, Tx yesterday. Neighbors in houses facing the same direction with tesla panels don't have this spiky generation pattern. I see this started appearing after about Feb 15th and continues this way for most days. I feel something is off with a portion of the circuits (I have 2 inverters). Any thoughts?
Thanks for your guidance!

Regards,
Vijay

 

[Tdriver]

Appears to be one or more inverters constantly overheating or reaching design limits.

 

[BGbreeder]

Call in a service call. I suspect that something is wrong with your inverter or wiring.

All the best,

BG

 

[vijay_challa]

Thank you! I will put a request into Tesla!

 

[vijay_challa]

Thank you! I will put a request into Tesla

 

[vijay_challa]

So, Tesla came and said the system was overheating - apparently, the system automatically opened a ticket with them as well. They came and replaced the inverter and now it is from bad - WORSE. I am at less than 50% of power generation right now. Now, another ticket with Tesla and they are trying to figure this out. Very frustrating!

 

[sorka]

So, Tesla came and said the system was overheating - apparently, the system automatically opened a ticket with them as well. They came and replaced the inverter and now it is from bad - WORSE. I am at less than 50% of power generation right now. Now, another ticket with Tesla and they are trying to figure this out. Very frustrating!

On the plus side having them respond before you even file a ticket is pretty cool. Not what I expect from Tesla historically.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

Did they replace the wrong inverter?

 

[charlesj]

If you had this issue starting around middle of February and it seems Tesla is monitoring to some degree, it took them this long to come out and replace one of the inverters?
What inverter brand?

 

[dafish]

Not using a string inverter myself, but thinking they make sense, I'm curious: Where did you place your inverter? I assumed they were typically inside garages and etc.

Are you using any DC optimizers?

Have you IR'd the string inverters to see what temp they are reaching?

 

[n.one.one]

So, Tesla came and said the system was overheating - apparently, the system automatically opened a ticket with them as well. They came and replaced the inverter and now it is from bad - WORSE. I am at less than 50% of power generation right now. Now, another ticket with Tesla and they are trying to figure this out. Very frustrating!

Thanks for the update. Please let us know how this plays out.

 

[aztessy]

So, Tesla came and said the system was overheating - apparently, the system automatically opened a ticket with them as well. They came and replaced the inverter and now it is from bad - WORSE. I am at less than 50% of power generation right now. Now, another ticket with Tesla and they are trying to figure this out. Very frustrating!

Did you get a fix on this yet. Same issue here. Not a cloud in the sky. I was suspecting it was because of overheating. I had my panels installed at dead of summer last year when it was 115 every day so I assumed the extreme heat. High was 90 today. I don't think they should be overheating.

 

[aztessy]

Tesla also diagnosed a problem and created a help ticket. They have since elevated my issue. She advised there is definitely a problem and they think its the fan. If they can fix remotely they will try. If not they will send a technician out. I told her I had some concerns because the temps these past few days are about 20 degrees cooler now and I am not having any issues. She mentioned they did notate on the help ticket that it was "intermittent" and possibly related to temp. Im hoping this gets fixed because I am on a Demand plan. Extreme summer heat I need the solar production along with the 2 powerwalls to meet the demands we have. I basically need to be "off grid" between 2-8pm.

 

[Bnsuckling]

Hey aztessy,

Been following your story. Any updates? Having similar issues with no meaningful help from Tesla solar. Here is what my sysem dysfunction looks like on high production days.

 

[DarylLafferty]

Hey aztessy,

Been following your story. Any updates? Having similar issues with no meaningful help from Tesla solar. Here is what my sysem dysfunction looks like on high production days.

Bnsuckling: Your image looks just like the issue I had for a couple of weeks. It looks like you have at least 2 inverters, and one is intermittently going out, or your inverter has two stages and one of the stages is going out. If you trace the path described by the bottom of the gaps, it seems to follow a smooth curve.

Here is what mine looked like before Tesla fixed it:

The red curve is power from "legacy" solar panels and inverter that I have had for over 10 years. Tesla recently added more panels and Powerwalls. You can clearly see where the Tesla inverter was failing for about 30 minutes at a time, 4 times on this day.

I had from 1 to 4 of these gaps every day for the first two weeks after PTO.

I contacted service through the Chat feature on the support page. At first they said it was probably just clouds, but eventually (3 chats and 2 weeks later) I convinced them that something else was going on. They were able to fix it remotely.

It has worked fine now for the past 2 weeks.

 

[charlesj]

Bnsuckling: Your image looks just like the issue I had for a couple of weeks. It looks like you have at least 2 inverters, and one is intermittently going out, or your inverter has two stages and one of the stages is going out. If you trace the path described by the bottom of the gaps, it seems to follow a smooth curve.

Here is what mine looked like before Tesla fixed it:
View attachment 940085

The red curve is power from "legacy" solar panels and inverter that I have had for over 10 years. Tesla recently added more panels and Powerwalls. You can clearly see where the Tesla inverter was failing for about 30 minutes at a time, 4 times on this day.

I had from 1 to 4 of these gaps every day for the first two weeks after PTO.

I contacted service through the Chat feature on the support page. At first they said it was probably just clouds, but eventually (3 chats and 2 weeks later) I convinced them that something else was going on. They were able to fix it remotely.

It has worked fine now for the past 2 weeks.

Can you tell us what Tesla found wrong with it and how they fixed it?

 

[SSonnentag]

Are your inverters in the sun? If so, look into shading them. Ours were intentionally installed on the north wall of our home. They never see any direct sun.

 

[jboy210]

Are your inverters in the sun? If so, look into shading them. Ours were intentionally installed on the north wall of our home. They never see any direct sun.

Thanks for reminding me. I need to rig up some sort of sunshade over my inverters before the summer sun starts limiting their production. My Delta units start derating at 113F (45c) and they get that hot soon after the summer sun starts hitting them.

 

[DarylLafferty]

Can you tell us what Tesla found wrong with it and how they fixed it?

Tesla said: "The MPPT curve scans get stuck at a lower level and then it cycles and resolves." I had to Google "MPPT curve scans", but I'm no wiser about what caused this to happen or how they fixed it.

They did state that it wasn't heat-caused. My inverter is on the south-east side of the house, but shaded by the two-story house next door part of the day.

 

[aztessy]

Update on my end... After several weeks and basically no communication from Tesla, they replaced my inverter. Now the system works HOWEVER my system is producing about 10% less of what its capacity was. My max output for a year straight was 7.7kw. I am now pegged at 7. I believe they remotely throttled my system when they were troubleshooting. So I'll submit another help ticket..